The Breaker is the size of a small mountain. I’m certain I’ll know he’s there.

“There’s something I wanted to discuss with you,” Norah says. She threads her arm through mine and we begin walking. “I’m sure you’re still devastated about what happened with your mother.”

Beside her, I stiffen. “Latham killing her, you mean?” I have no patience for my mother’s death being dipped in sugar to make it more palatable.

She doesn’t respond for so long, I think she’s reconsidering her intentions for this conversation, but then she sighs. “I don’t mean to downplay it. But I do need to know I can trust you.”

My breath lodges in my throat. Does she know I lied about being matched as a Bone Charmer?

“What makes you think you can’t trust me?” I try to keep my voice steady and hope Norah can’t hear my heart thrashing against my rib cage.

“When grief mixes with anger, it can work on us like a poison. Make us do things we otherwise would never consider.”

She knows. She must.

I glance over my shoulder at Rasmus, who looks alert and ready to spring into action. Maybe he’s here to detain me instead of protect me.

“I never intended to—”

Norah pats my arm. “I’m not accusing you of anything,” she says. “The Grand Council just needs to know that you’re going to let them take care of searching for Latham and meting out justice. I’m sure vengeance is tempting—it would be for anyone—but this is something the council is far better equipped to handle. Promise me you’ll let them?”

I’m so grateful we’ve moved away from the lamplight, so that the darkness hides the relief I can feel melting over my expression. She’s not confronting me about something I did in the past. She’s worried about what I’ll do in the future.

And she should be.

But I can’t let her know the truth—that something ugly has been festering inside me for weeks now: a hatred that burns so brightly, I feel as if I’m on fire. And along with it an aching desire for revenge.

“If I knew how to find him, I would have tried already.” It’s as honest an answer as I can muster. Because I’m determined to recover my mother’s bones no matter what assurances the council wants. But staying in the capital—in Norah and the council’s good graces—will give me the best chance of success. Latham lived and worked here. He must have left clues behind.

Silence stretches between us, an empty space that Norah is waiting for me to fill with a vow.